Doc: Bengals are inches from being very good

The organization needs that next big moment

Jun. 13, 2013

Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green can't make a critical catch in the end zone covered by the Houston Texans free safety Danieal Manning during the first round of their AFC playoff game at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. / The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

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The Bengals are this close to being very good. The distance can be measured in inches. A foot, maybe. Whatever the empty space was between the tips of A.J. Green’s fingers and the line-drive deep ball Andy Dalton tossed Green’s way in Houston last January.

If you need a refresher in Not Quite, the Bengals offer any number of moments: Montana-to-Taylor, January 1989. Kimo vonOelhoffen, January 2006. J.J. Watt’s pick-six, January 2012.

Make that throw, quite possibly win a playoff game for the first time since Jan. 6, 1991. Make that throw, re-make a franchise image. Complete that play, climb the first rung on the ladder of credibility. Not just as a good quarterback, but as a good, winning quarterback.

As Marvin Lewis said Tuesday of that playoff loss, “We had a couple opportunities for big plays, and we missed out. A very good player is going to get that. A great player is going to hit some of those. That’s how you get to that status.’’

Put another way: “This organization needs that next big moment,’’ according to Andrew Whitworth. It doesn’t have to come from Dalton. More than likely, it will.

The Bengals have tried to make Dalton’s life easier. They drafted a pass-catching tight end in the first round. They took Darren Sproles in Round 2, only this guy’s name is Giovani Bernard. They’ve given Dalton what amounts to a complete tool chest. They’d like him to build them a house.

Make no mistake. Even with all the sunny news emanating from PBS – the run of highly praised drafts, the apparent collection of mostly low-key hard workers, the recent sort-of success the Bengals have had – nothing works without the quarterback. In the NFL, it always comes down to the quarterback. The Bengals will go as Dalton goes. Until he completes that signature throw, Dalton will be viewed through slightly squinted eyes.

He knows that.

“It comes down to this: There are different points in the game when you have a chance to make a big play, and you have to hit it,’’ Dalton says.

Dalton has started every game of his first two seasons. That’s 34 games. In the NFL now, that’s half a lifetime. QBs don’t get a few years to develop. They come in, and they’re Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III or Colin Kaepernick. There is no learning curve.

Dalton has more reps than all three of them. He knows Jay Gruden’s offense. He’s smart and conscientious. Lewis says he has seen more confidence from his QB this offseason. All well and good. Now, it’s time to produce.

Shoving 22 years of history is heavy work. For the Bengals, reaching for the brass ring has produced only shoulder strain. It’s accurate to say that most games are not directly decided by what the quarterbacks do. There are too many other moving parts. That doesn’t mean it’s an unfair judgment, or even an oversimplification. Tom Brady isn’t Tom Brady because he throws a pretty spiral.

If Joe Flacco doesn’t find Jacoby Jones behind the Broncos secondary last January, and deliver him that desperate heave, Baltimore doesn’t get to the Super Bowl. How many times have Bengals fans been tortured by the image of Ben Roethlisberger, tap-dancing around the pocket?

Dalton has watched that missed opportunity in Houston several times, but only clinically. There is no hint of “damn’’ in his voice. He doesn’t ponder the What Ifs, historical or otherwise. When the Bengals beat the Houston Oilers in January ’91, Andy Dalton was 3.

The rest of us, though, we know the weight. And the wait.

“We’ve run (that play) quite a bit. We’ve hit it several times,’’ Dalton says. “If it was thrown a foot less. If I’d put a little more air under it. It’s going to happen, though.’’

Meaning: In that situation, Dalton will do what the great ones do. Until then, the Bengals will nag at the periphery of the elite circle. How far do they have to go?